The Star Eagles who had crossed the air defense barrage launched a volley, and the trajectory generated by the engines of the nine plasma missiles directly drew towards the plundering ship detachment.
The two plundering ships turned and retreated urgently, but the third one was too slow to react and was directly hit by a missile in the middle of the hull.
In the blink of an eye, the hull of the gunboat exploded from the inside, and after a few seconds its main reactor was overloaded and exploded.
The Star Eagle Squadron dispersed to avoid the debris clouds caused by the explosion. In the cockpit, the pilot of the squadron leader checked its instrument and found that his ammunition and fuel loads were less than 50%.
Bombers like Star Eagle only have limited self-sustaining capabilities. Without the support of motherships, they will soon be unable to protect the fleet from the incoming enemy fleets.
"Coordinate 1-4-14 direction!"
The communicator rattled, and the navigator on the Star Eagle reported to the captain that another wave of enemy ships launched a raid from the other side of the transport fleet.
The leader conveyed orders to the rest of the squadron, and then turned his dive-dive-dive-plane toward the direction of action.
"A Throne!"
The team leader cursed secretly.
"Where did the reliable loyal servant die?
"The Third Squadron reported that we only had 5 fighter jets left, all the payloads were cleared."
"Number 19 reports that the body payload is 0, and our engines are now running entirely by residual heat and prayer."
"Reported by No. 31, the body has only a minimum load and 5% fuel reserves, and it needs support. One enemy ship is about to arrive at our location."
The wing captain listened to the reports of his squadron leader and various fighter jets, ignored the red warning runes flashing on the fuel monitoring panel of his landline and opened the communication channel.
"On the 31st, our fuel is just enough to reach you, I will join you in launching a joint attack and..."
At this time, the communication link was interrupted because a more powerful communication signal was connected to the channel.
"The Knights of the Stars will send all the Imperial Navy to hold on, and we will be responsible for dealing with the remaining enemies here."
"Slaanesh! What the hell is this?"
The commander of the Chaos Plunder Fleet was staring blankly at what appeared in the imager.
A huge battle barge, six frigates surrounding it, the sky eagle emblem and double sword logo on it are so dazzling.
The combat principle of the Chaos Plunder Fleet is like a corrupt jackal. They only attack the weak, but can only escape in a panic in front of any more powerful predator.
"Retreat! Retreat immediately!"
Under the sudden attack of the powerful Astart warship formation, the Chaos Plunder Fleet was defeated. After losing five warships, it hurriedly retreated to the edge of the asteroid belt, but happened to hit the reliable loyal servant who turned around and returned to the escort, and was sunk three more ships, including their flagships.
All the surviving Star Eagles returned safely, and the two left behind transport ships also returned safely to the fleet under the protection of four Furious Class Interceptor Squadrons.
Captain Neo, who almost made a big mistake, almost burst into tears after knowing that the fleet was saved by the Astartes regiment, almost burst into tears. Then he invited the commander of the regiment, the fourth company commander of the Knights of the Star Realm, monk Lothar, to his flagship to have a friendly meeting with the other party.
After learning that the Fourth Company of the Astral Knights received a signal to support the Pandora Galaxy, Neo invited the other fleet to go to Gaya Star with him and passed the news of the Astral Knights' arrival to this temporary naval base.
Many people couldn't help but sigh that more than a year after the Battle of Pandora started, the first Astartes finally appeared.
But they didn't know that the real main force of the Knights of the Astrology was still dormant on the edge of the galaxy, quietly waiting for the development of the battle situation-
"The attitude thruster is starting, the barge is approaching and is about to enter the port."
Listening to the report in the communicator, Lothar, standing on the command deck, felt the vibrations caused by the warship approaching the orbital berths and barges.
Looking at the berth through the observation port, he could see the familiar appearance of a Galaxy-class transport parked in Star Harbor. Even if the two gathered for about 5 kilometers—
The Galaxy-class transport ship, called the Death Charge, looked extremely huge, with worker and supply ships sliding across the spire of its superstructure, as if a worker bee was feeding and caring for a bloated queen.
The Galaxy Class is a support ship in a fleet that spans the interstellar fleet, used to transport the corps of the Star Army from one galaxy to another. Although the Galaxy Class itself is not a real warship, it often serves as a part of the combat fleet to help planetary landings.
A Galaxy-class transport ship is no less than a battleship, and its internal space is enough to accommodate four complete Astral Army corps and all their heavy weapons and equipment. It is also one of the few non-Titan transport ships that can carry Titans, and can almost be said to be the most unimaginable transport aircraft of the Empire.
However, since the Apostasy era, the manufacturing methods of the Galaxy level have been lost, so no new Galaxy level has been created again. The Death Charge has been in service for more than 6,000 years and is an old antique.
In addition, Lothar also saw a long list of moored docks and orbital defense platforms. Gayaxing is now the home port of Pandora's battle group. The Navy has built huge defense facilities at all costs, making it look like it is strung into a string of long pearl necklaces surrounding the world.
"strangeness...."
Suddenly, Losa frowned slightly, counting how many ports were occupied by ships.
Logically speaking, there should be more ships, and there are not many combat ships to see, and they are basically transport ships.
Where did the main force of Pandora’s battle group go?
"Signal from a reliable loyal servant."
Below the command deck, a communications officer made a loud noise.
“Connect.”
"Dear Company Commander Lothar, the fleet commander has just led the main force of the battle group to carry out a mission. I'm afraid we have to wait."
Hearing Captain Neo's words, Losa paced back and forth on the command deck for two times, and then spoke:
"Captain Neo, let me know what mission General Orson Carranswo will perform?"
One end of the communicator was silent for a long time.
"Sorry, this is a secret."
"I am bluntly speaking, I just feel a coincidence. Why did the fleet commander go out to carry out the mission when something happened to the transport fleet?"
There was still no answer on one end of the communicator.
Losa realized that he had guessed correctly and sighed.
"I should have guessed long ago how could a sophisticated commander like you make the decision to abandon the big and protect the small. All this was the plan of General Orson Carranswo from the beginning? He planned to find the gathering ground for the main force of the Black Legion fleet, launch a raid, and engage in a decisive battle with the other side... The transport fleet is just bait, just to deceive those plundering ships. As long as one or two of the heretic warships were severely damaged, he could follow them to find the main force of the Black Legion, or at least find a stronghold."
After a long time, Captain Neo's bitter voice came from one end of the communicator.